Once again, we have entered Lent. I would not be at all surprised if you have not been asked sometime during this week, “What are you doing for Lent?” If you have not been asked that question by someone, perhaps you have asked it of yourself. We often think of Lent as a time for us to sacrifice our wants and our desires, to give up things in order to devote ourselves to God. The readings for this first Sunday of Lent, indeed the readings for all the Sundays of Lent, actually force us to take the accent off what we are doing for Lent in order to ask the question, “What has God done for us?” Lent is a time for us to recognize that it is God who makes the sacrifice; it is God who accomplishes great things for us.
Each of the readings for today’s liturgy describes a different kind of conflict within which we might find ourselves. They acknowledge that we are living in the midst of conflict; they sketch God as initiating a relationship with us even in the midst of this conflict. They end with a proclamation of the good news of salvation.
The first comes to us from the Book of Genesis which tells of a world-wrenching upheaval of nature, a so-called natural disaster. This past year, Florida, Texas, and the islands of the Caribbean were devastated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. More than two million acres of land were destroyed by wildfires in West and Southwest. Mudslides killed people in both our country as well as in Sierra Leone. The catalogue of disasters is mammoth. So when we read of the flood in the Book of Genesis, we have something of an idea of what that might have been like.
Perhaps even more heart-wrenching is the human disaster that played out in Florida this week with yet another school shooting in which seventeen people lost their lives. Human catastrophes like this make us feel completely vulnerable. We desperately cling to the hope that somehow God is with us.
The second kind of conflict which plagues our world is a spiritual conflict, the struggle between right and wrong, between fidelity and disobedience. The author of the First Letter of St. Peter suggests that we are in the throes of a struggle and only the graciousness of God can deliver us.
Finally, the Gospel passage depicts Jesus struggling, as we all do, with temptation.
These readings have not fabricated a fictional view of life. Rather they have accurately reported what we all have experienced at one time or another. The struggles sometimes make us question whether God is with us, whether we can rely upon the promises God has made. We are called upon to place our trust in God even in the midst of these conflicts, be they natural or spiritual or human.
In the midst of the conflict in the Book of Genesis, God initiates a covenantal relationship with the eight people who survived the flood. Note that the covenant is with all living things, with the earth itself. The creation stories of the Middle East are oftentimes depicted as a battle between chaos and a youthful warrior god. The sacred writer takes a cue from that struggle and offers a sign that the conflict is over as God hangs up his bow in the clouds.
In the midst of the conflict between good and evil, the sacred writer tells us Jesus has died once for all, and that those who are baptized into his death are saved.
In the Gospel, the Spirit drives Jesus into the desert where he is tested and emerges triumphant. His victory over temptation is not for him alone bur for all those who will heed his words and follow his example. As he emerges from the desert experience, he proclaims the kingdom of God is at hand.
The bow in the sky is a sign of the good news of the covenant; baptism is both the good news of salvation for us and our pledge of fidelity; Jesus’ proclamation is that the reign of God is at hand. His message is at once like John the Baptist’s but also different. Not only does he ask for repentance, he also assures us that God’s reign is among us.
So as we celebrate this first Sunday of Lent, let us put our emphasis on what God has done for us rather than on what we might accomplish through our Lenten observance. We come to the table of the Lord realizing that nothing we do will ever end the various conflicts that continue to appear from time to time in our world. Only God can overcome them. Lent is a time to remember what God has done for us.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator